Seattle International Film Festival – May 1, 2008 – Something remarkable is happening in the Pacific Northwest; family farms are making a comeback. These farms, the farmers, ranchers, cultivators, and the food they produce, are the focus of a new Moving Images documentary, Good Food, which will be shown at the Seattle City Council on July 9th at 12 p.m. Food, where it comes from, how it is grown and processed is becoming more important for everyone, and Good Food introduces us to the local farmers and ranchers, distributors and restaurants that are building a sustainable food system for the Pacific Northwest. The film makes the important personal connection between the source and your table.

For decades small family farmers have been disappearing, but there is new life in the fields, orchards and pastures of the Pacific Northwest and in the business community to help sustain them. In Good Food we see the beautiful landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and meet some of the leaders in bringing good food to tables across the region.

Brooke and Sam Lucy of Bluebird Grain Farms in the Methow Valley, plant, harvest and sell organic grain on land they have recovered from years of disuse.
The Hatfields, family ranchers in eastern Oregon who founded Country Natural Beef, explain how proper grazing of cattle can actually improve the environment.
Hilario Alvarez, who came to the U.S. as a farm worker decades ago, shows off the innumerable varieties of colorful peppers that brighten his fields and Seattle farmers markets.
George and Eiko Vojkovich of Skagit River Ranch raise chickens, pigs and beef for your table, all sustainably and naturally.
Seth Caswell, chef of Seattle restaurant Stumbling Goat, sources from individual farmers to make his menus local and delicious.
Burgerville, an Oregon and Washington burger chain, discusses sourcing locally and offering seasonable faire that pleases both farmers and diners.
Diane Dempster of Charlie’s Produce, talks about how offering local growers the ability to distribute is an important part of their business and commitment to the area.

Good Food brings you close to the producers and the people that are helping to sustain and support the cycle of great food getting to our tables. Meet PCC Natural markets which takes a personal approach in maintaining fresh produce and meat for Seattle Area consumers, see local farmers markets, visit CSA farms, and hear Ron Sims, King County Executive, discuss how the public health system is dependent on getting local food to people who need it. After watching this documentary you will be moved to cook and to eat well!

Featuring original music from Washington musicians Jami Sieber, Mark Graham, Los Emocionantes and Jack Knauer, and colorful urban and rural images, Good Food shows that it is possible to increase the supply of healthy, local, sustainably grown food.

About the producers

Local award winning filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young of Moving Images are proud to present Good Food, the latest in a long string of environmental and social justice documentaries. Their documentaries have often been distributed on PBS both locally and nationally. The team has a history of work related to food and farming, including Environment Under Fire -1987, Risky Business – 1996, Not for Sale - 2001, and their most recent program broadcast on PBS stations is Net Loss: The Storm Over Salmon Farming – 2004.

Color and black and white photographs available from producers or SIFF.

Contacts:

Good Food web page: www.movingimages.org/page25.html

SIFF Press: Ted Fry, ted.fry@siff.net

Co-directors: Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin Melissa@movingimages.org 360-341-1269

Brooke Lucy, Bluebird Grain Farms, brooke@bluebirdgrainfarms.com 509-996-3526

Rosalinda Guillén, Community to Community [Bellingham] 360-752-3344

Billy Allstot, Billy’s Gardens, Tonasket 509-322-3084

Susan Ujcic 360-280-2473, Anna Salafsky 360-791-8503, Helsing Junction Farm CSA.

Review comments:

"Couldn't be more timely! A film made to awaken our taste buds and our courage to create a food system aligned with what the earth needs and what our bodies yearn for. GOOD FOOD shows us it's possible. It's

happening!" Frances Moore Lappe, author, Diet for a Small Planet, Hope’s Edge

"Food scarcity may become the dominant issue of our time. This film demonstrates that abundance is possible, when we refocus on regional agriculture and honor those who are making it happen. This film is a celebration of the best of the Northwest, portrayed through food and those whose hands grow it." Michael Ableman, farmer and author of On Good Land and Fields Of Plenty.

“Good Food is an intelligent, sensitive, and very timely witness to the ultimate interdependence of producers and eaters. The warmth and wisdom of this film will inspire and reassure all who continue to work for greater community food security, in communities everywhere." Goldie Caughlan, nutrition educator, PCC Natural Markets, former member National Organic Standards Board

"The film visits many of the pioneers in the movement to 're-localize' our food system and documents, first hand, the tremendous grassroots work that is being done here in the Northwest." Mary Embleton, Executive Director, Cascade Harvest Coalition

“We grow stuff that’s tasty. Ideally, with taste comes nutrition… that’s what food is. If it doesn’t taste good and it isn’t good for you, then it is just sort of a bad habit.” Sam Lucy, Bluebird Grain Farms

"Not only does the film convey the ingenious methods of some of the sustainable producers, but it also shows innovative ways they are marketing their products to help sustain themselves as family farmers." Maurice Robinette, beef producer and field organizer for Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network

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